These cinnamon rolls are free of dairy, eggs, and refined sugar and made in under an hour using instant yeast. Overnight instructions included.
There’s nothing like the aroma of bread baking in the oven. Yeast, flour, sugar, and milk come together to make such a delicious creation. Cinnamon rolls are the occasional treat we like to make on days we feel like splurging. Christmas morning, birthdays, or just because. There doesn’t always have to be a special occasion; the fact that they’re utterly delicious is reason enough.
These classic cinnamon rolls are given a little twist using coconut sugar and maple syrup as the sweeteners, making these rolls free of refined sugars, but you seriously can’t even tell. I also make these dairy-free/vegan friendly on occasion by using dairy-free butter and almond milk, but regular butter/milk can also be used.
Love these cinnamon rolls? Then check out these super yummy vegan cardamon buns!
Depending on the day and what ingredients I have on hand, I often make a cream cheese glaze to drizzle over the top (recipe included below.) But on days I want that classic cinnabon-like roll, I make a simple vanilla buttercream (shown in the photos) to spread over the hot rolls. It melts into the swirls and makes them sooooo yummy! 😋I use all unsalted butter in this recipe, because butter is one of the only dairy products that doesn’t affect me, but you can use a combo of dairy-free butter/vegetable shortening, if you don’t eat dairy.
These rolls are seriously a must try! They’re simple to make and, by using instant yeast, can even be ready in under an hour! It’s also very easy to prepare the rolls the night before and bake them fresh for breakfast. Just make everything as instructed, but instead of letting them rise for 30 minutes, cover the pan and place into the refrigerator. In the morning, let them sit in a warm place for 30-60 minutes before baking and then bake as instructed. Enjoy!
Simple Cinnamon Rolls
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
Description
These cinnamon rolls are free of dairy and refined sugar and made in under an hour using instant yeast. Overnight instructions included!
Ingredients
- 3–4 1/4 cups (405g–570g) unbleached all-purpose flour, just enough to form a soft dough plus a little more for dusting (can use up to half whole-grain flour—spelt, einkorn, or whole wheat, if you’d like)
- 2 1/4 teaspoon (.25oz packet) rapid rise or instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (177ml) warm almond milk or other milk of choice (approximately 110º F)
- 1/2 cup (118ml) warm water (approximately 110º F)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) avocado oil
or other oil
- 1/4 cup (60ml) maple syrup
, cane sugar, or other sweetener of choice
or other oil
, cane sugar, or other sweetener of choiceFilling:
- 1/2 cup (113g) softened butter (can use dairy-free)
- 3/4 cup (110g) coconut sugar
or brown sugar
- 1 heaping tablespoon (9g) cinnamon
or brown sugar
Cream Cheese Frosting (or vanilla buttercream below)
- 4 oz. cream cheese or mascarpone (can use dairy-free)
- 1 tablespoon softened butter (can use dairy-free)
- 2–3 tablespoons maple syrup
- splash of vanilla
- milk of choice to thin, if needed
Vanilla Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (can also use 1/4 cup butter + 1/4 cup cream cheese)
- 1 cup powdered sugar, use more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1–2 tablespoons milk of choice, if needed
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups of flour, instant yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add warm milk, water, sweetener, and oil, blending until mixture is combined and smooth.
- Knead in extra flour, a little at a time, until it forms a soft dough. Careful not to add too much flour or the rolls will be dry and hard.
- Cover and let dough rest in a warm place for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine coconut sugar with cinnamon and set aside.
- Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a large rectangle.
- Spread softened butter generously over the surface of the dough and top with the cinnamon coconut sugar mixture.
- Beginning at the long edge of the rectangle, tightly roll dough into a log.
- You can use a sharp knife, but I prefer to cut each roll with dental floss, which doesn’t flatten them.
- Place a long piece of floss under the middle of the log and criss cross it over to cut the roll in half. (watch the video above for further details)
- Divide each half into six equal portions and place into a greased or parchment lined 13×9 baking dish. (To make the next morning, skip down to the instructions for Overnight Rolls)
- To make rolls immediately: Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Close to the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Overnight Rolls: To make the rolls the next morning, after putting the cut rolls into the pan, cover the pan tightly with tin foil and place into the refrigerator.
- The next morning, take the pan out of the refrigerator and set in a warm place to rise, about 30–60 minutes, or until puffy (they may not take that long if they had risen some overnight.) Once the rolls have risen, preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Place pan onto the middle rack and bake for 20–25 minutes, just until rolls are lightly golden around the edges and centers are puffed. Don’t overbake.
- Remove and let cool slightly before topping with glaze/buttercream.
Maple Cream Cheese Glaze:
- Blend together cream cheese, softened butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until creamy. Add milk, if needed, to thin the glaze. Drizzle over warm rolls.
Vanilla Buttercream:
- Beat softened butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, beating until smooth. Pour in a little milk if mixture gets too crumbly, then continue to beat buttercream until fluffy. Add extra powdered sugar, if buttercream is too soft, then mix in the vanilla. Spread buttercream over warm cinnamon rolls.
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Breakfast, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free
You may also enjoy these similar recipes:
Vegan Spelt Cinnamon Rolls
Triple Berry Sweet Rolls
Vegan Cardamom Buns
Could einkorn flour be used entirely?
I made these last night – my first time making cinnamon rolls and they were delicious!!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for giving these a try and for taking the time to leave a review. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These turned out great! I made a batch, topped with vegan cream cheese frosting and a dollop of apple pie filling over each roll. 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Caitlin, that sounds amazing! Love the idea of apple pie filling on top too, so yummy! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Hi! I am a bit confused by the amount of flour… 3 to 4 1/4 cups? The steps say 2 cups plus some to make it more doughey. Could you help me out with this? Thanks!
Hi Maria, there’s not an exact amount because it changes depending on the humidity in your area. You start with 2 cups and knead in more until the dough is soft and malleable, not too sticky. It’s usually between 3-4 cups altogether.
Hi there! This recipe looks absolutely delicious and I would love to make it for Christmas Day. Unfortunately, I can’t have gluten and was wondering if I could sub King Arthur GF flour 1:1 in the recipe or if I would need to use less so they won’t be too dry? Thanks!
Hi Julia, I have had people say they have done this with success, but I wasn’t thrilled with the results when I’ve tried it. They just were nothing like traditional cinnamon rolls. The closest I’ve come is with a blend of KA gf flour, almond flour, and coconut flour, but it still needed some work. I’d suggest looking for an actual gf cinnamon roll recipe with good reviews and following the recipe to a t so that you don’t waste all of those expensive ingredients.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it; I do hate to waste expensive ingredients.
You’re welcome, Julia! Hope you find a good gf recipe. Have a Merry Christmas!
Excited to try this recipe! I have never made cinnamon rolls—about how big is the rectangle when you roll it out? Or about how thin do you roll it? Thanks!!
Hi Janey, I’m not sure of the exact size, but I roll the dough to about 1/4-1/3 of an inch thin, so it’s a pretty large rectangle. It should easily make 12 1.5-2” slices once you’ve rolled it up into a log. If you watch the video at the bottom, you can kind of see how large I rolled mine out. Hope you enjoy them!
I am so hooked on cinnamon rolls and these are absolutely divine! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I have made these before using half bread and half AP flour but this version turned out fluffier. I topped the buns with a tahini icing! Delish!
★★★★★
These look amazing ! I don’t have instant yeast but I have active dry yeast. Can I use that instead and if so does that change the rising time?
Hi Lauren, yes you can use active dry yeast but instead of mixing the yeast with the flour, you’ll “proof” it in the warm milk/water (warm not hot, about 100ºF.) Mix the yeast, milk, and sweetener together and let it sit about 5 minutes, until foamy. Then you’ll continue to follow the directions to make the dough. The dough will need to rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size. Continue with the instructions to roll out the dough, fill, and cut the rolls. Once they’re in the pan, they’ll need to rise again until doubled in size, 30-40 minutes. Then you’ll bake per the instructions! I hope you enjoy them!
Is the filling supposed to be 1/2 cup butter as in one stick?
Hi Elisheva, yes 1/2 cup as in one stick. Enjoy!
This is the third recipe of yours that I have made since the COVID lockdown began in the UK, and it’s utter perfection yet again! Thank you so much for posting such great recipes, they are bringing so much happiness to my household. The rolls are so soft and gooey, and the cream cheese frosting is just the right amount of sweet on top. I could only get fresh yeast from my local bakery, since it’s been sold out in stores for weeks, and it was quite easy to fit into this recipe as the warm milk, water and a bit of maple syrup got it nice and foamy in about 5 mins.
Thank you so much for your very kind review, Katelyn! I’m so happy that you’re enjoying my recipes and have even been able to adapt them using the ingredients you have on hand. Lately, it’s been nice to forget about what’s going on in the world, even if just got a moment, and cook/bake up something delicious for loved ones to enjoy. I truly appreciate you giving these recipes a try and taking the time to leave such an encouraging comment as well! It really brightened my day!!
Hi! Will raw honey work for the dough instead of maple? Also can I use all white spelt flour?
Hi Ellie, honey will also work! I haven’t used white spelt flour before, so I’m not sure of the texture, but I have used all regular spelt flour, and although it works fine, the texture of the finished product is a little more dense and dry than with ap flour. What I like to do when using regular spelt flour in breads, is to use half spelt and half ap flour. That being said, you can certainly use 100% white spelt flour, as long as you don’t mind the texture.
I actually have a spelt cinnamon roll recipe if you’re interested (https://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vegan-spelt-cinnamon-rolls/)
It uses extra yeast and less flour than traditional rolls, to help improve the texture 🙂 Let me know how it goes if you give them a try!
I will be making the sugar free recipe. Can these be frozen individually after baking? I cook ans freeze meals weekly for my parents.
This is incredible! I did the overnight,they double the size so I just set them for 30 minutes and bake for 25 minutes.i used the cream cheese frosting.we loved it as it’s not too sweet! I will definitely save this recipe.thank you for sharing!
So happy you enjoyed these rolls, Loveline! I also like making the dough the night before so you can bake a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls in the morning without all the work! Thank you for sharing your experience and for taking the time to leave a review!! Have a great weekend! 🙂
These are delicious! The first batch turned out so great I made a second batch the same day (I sweetened mine with honey, with a honey, cinnamon and butter filling) I love how simple it is to make these, you don’t need to wait 2 hours for the dough to rise like most recipes.Next time I’ll try to make dinner rolls with this delicious dough
I’m so happy you enjoyed these cinnamon rolls, Jamesia! Love the idea of sweetening with honey too…will have to try that sometime. I’ve made dinner rolls with this dough before and they’re delicious! Especially with honey butter!! YUM!
These Cinnamon rolls are so heavenly! Just to let everybody know, the dough is great for pizza too! I know, because I messed up the first time. I forgot the maple syrup! That is definitely a must for these rolls and I was already planning on making homemade pizza, so it worked out great! I love the fact that these are egg and sugar free, because I have food intolerances to both! Needless to say, it had been awhile since I had an awesome cinnamon roll!
Yay, I’m so happy you enjoyed these Jessica! I’m glad you were able to use the unsweetened dough for pizza too! The dough is very versatile and is great for pizza, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback and such helpful tips as well! Have a great week! 🙂
My goodness, they look so amazing and tempting, seems I wanna grab their bite immediately. Great work I must say for these cinnamon rolls.
Thank you!
These look so delicious. I am a sucker for a cinnamon roll and they do look really easy to make. Will have to make them for the weekend.
Dam these look amazing! Haven’t had these in a long time!
WOW! Your baking looks really delicious. I also love to bake, but I dont use as much icing sugar on my cinnamondelights.
These look so amazing. Love that they’re refined sugar free! Unfortunately, I can’t eat gluten. And it’s hard to get the consistency with gluten-free flour. But I can definitely drool over the pics!
YUM! First of all – your pictures are absolutely stunning, and second – these cinnamon rolls look to-die-for ♥
Absolutely gorgeous, I need these rolls in my life!